The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
Tax relief has become a key issue in the final weeks of the legislative session, and nearly all of the relief efforts are focused on the franchise tax paid by businesses. Use our interactive to track the status of those bills. Full Story
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State Rep. John Zerwas, a budget conferee, said Monday he’s relatively confident that a rider stipulating the Legislature's preferred Medicaid reform terms for any deal with the federal government would stick to the 2014-15 budget. Full Story
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On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: As another round of deadlines in the Capitol approaches, several legislative priorities are still unresolved. Full Story
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State budget leaders adopted unified proposals for several areas of the budget on Monday morning but said they are still working on the two largest pieces: education and health and human services. Full Story
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In the latest Texas Weekly Newsreel: With less than three weeks left in the legislative session, the deadlines are coming fast and furious, raising the stakes and prompting whispers of a special session if things don't get finished. Full Story
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On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Deadlines in the Texas House have come and gone. Now lawmakers are left to pick up the pieces for next session, or to find another way to get their bills passed. Full Story
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Greg Abbott’s letter doesn’t have any new information in it, but the timing takes away what some — probably those further from the budget conversations than closer — saw as a possible solution for the Legislature’s financial logjam. Full Story
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A political scientist's analysis of Texas legislators' votes through April, and where those votes locate lawmakers on the partisan scale. Spoiler alert: The Republicans and the Democrats don't overlap much. Full Story
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Full video of my 5/9 TribLive conversation with first-term state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands. Full Story
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UPDATED: The legislation authored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, that would require court approval for most requests to view or copy crime scene photos that show murder victims passed the Senate Monday without debate. Full Story
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As state and federal regulators analyze the patchwork of policies governing the fertilizer plant that exploded in West, the incident has prompted a closer look at communities that lie near stockpiles of chemicals. Full Story
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Lawmakers are talking seriously about a 21.5 percent pay raise for state district judges, which would increase the pensions of those same lawmakers by that same amount. Full Story
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Another major House deadline has gone by, ending that chamber's consideration of major legislation filed by its own members. We've updated our House Bill tracker, showing which bills stalled in committee and which ones stalled in the full House. Full Story
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President Obama said Thursday that Austin was the perfect spot to kick off his "Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity" tour because the city was doing so many things right economically. Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, said he couldn't agree more. Full Story
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At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth; Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford; and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, talked about the coming race for lieutenant governor and whom they'd back in a Cruz-Perry presidential primary showdown. Full Story
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At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth; Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford; and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, explained their objection to dipping into the Rainy Day Fund to jump-start the state water plan. Full Story
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A transparency bill that would require lobbyists to disclose the names of lawmakers who pay them using campaign funds for services, including political consulting, is headed to Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Full Story
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Spending from the state's Rainy Day Fund does, in fact, count against a constitutional limit on growth in the state budget, Attorney General Greg Abbott advised on Thursday. Full Story
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UPDATED: State Rep. Lance Gooden’s bill to prevent unmanned drones from capturing indiscriminate surveillance won approval in the lower chamber on Friday. Full Story
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The betting here is that state finance is the closing drama of the session and that in spite of the sharper debates here at the end, that everybody goes home singing Kumbaya. Full Story
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